Buffalo Bills Impressive in 44-20 Preseason Win Over Colts

EJ Manuel completed 16 of 21 passes for 107 yards with one touchdown and a quarterback rating of 102.7, Manuel thought he played okay, but felt he’ll be much better going forward.

“My main thing was I wanted to operate the offense like coach (Nathaniel) Hackett has taught us and get all the other guys in position,” Manuel said. “The veterans have done a great job of bringing me along and things like that. The main thing is just continuing to go out there and execute.”

Manuel was especially effective against the Colts second team defense near the end of the first half in the 2-minute offense. Manuel drove the Bills into scoring position and then fired a rocket to Dorin Dickerson for a 17-yard score that broke a 13-13 tie with 14 seconds left in the half.

Manuel improved as the game went along — just as he did in last weekend’s scrimmage, impressing Doug Marrone. “Here you are right before a half, 1:50, three timeouts left, and you’re making decisions. Are we going to try to run out the clock? Are we going to go 2-minute? Hey, let’s go 2-minute,” he said. “To do that is very impressive, no matter who you are.”

Receiver Marquise Goodwin, an Olympic long jumper with world-class speed, set up one Bills score with a 53-yard kickoff return and tied the score at 13 with a 107-yard kickoff return. Da’Rick Rogers caught a 6-yard TD pass to open the second-half scoring. Backup quarterback Jeff Tuel completed his first 10 passes and led the Bills to three scores, after replacing Manuel to start the third quarter. Cornerback Jumal Rolle closed out the scoring with a 17-yard interception return in the fourth quarter.

“I think I showed that I can matriculate the ball down the field,” Manuel said. “I was glad we were able to go out there and get six points before the end of the half.”